Sports Snippet

In a move which could trigger major controversy, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) named Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as its lifetime patron and president respectively in its Annual General Meeting (AGM). Before Kalmadi and Chautala, only Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who served as acting IOA chief between 2011 and 2012, was made the Life President, according to IOA’s official website.

Sports minister Vijay Goel said that the appointment was a serious issue. “I will look into it. It is a serious issue,” he told. “It is totally unacceptable to us as both of them are facing serious corruption and criminal charges. In fact, IOA was suspended by IOC when Abhay Chautala and Lalit Bhanot were elected as office bearers of IOA and the suspension was lifted only when the two were removed from the management.”

Rohan Bopanna Slams AITA, Omission from Davis Cup Team

Rohan Bopanna, with world doubles ranking of 28, is the Number one tennis player in India. It was, however, not enough to earn him a place in the Davis Cup squad, and the 36-year-old player is upset about it. The All-India Tennis Association (AITA) on December 22 announced India’s squad for upcoming clash against New Zealand, which will be played in Pune from February 3 to 5.

Bopanna is upset that despite his top-ranking he was not part of the team. “On December 8, I got a call from AITA asking me whether I am available for the upcoming Davis Cup tie or not. I replied in due time that I was ready to play the tie against New Zealand. But ultimately I got to know from the media that I was not selected,” Bopanna told.

India Beat Korea to Win Bronze At Women’s U-18 Asia Cup Hockey

India outclasses Korea 3-0 at the 4th Women’s U-18 Asia Cup 2016 to take the Bronze medal in the tournament. Ritu put India in the lead by converting a penalty corner early in the second half while Sangita Kumari scored a couple of field goals later on. The two teams played out a goalless first half, with India content with dropping deep and relying on the counter to create opportunities.

With strong Indian defense, the best chance of the half fell to Mahima Choudhary. A defensive mistake in the Korean penalty circle saw the ball fall to Sangita who flashed a shot across the goal with Mahima waiting for the opportunity at the far post. For their notable performance, Hockey India announced cash rewards of Rs.1 lakh for each player, and Rs.50,000 for each member of the support staff.

Prakash Padukone Serves in Favour of PBL’s New Scoring System

Prakash Padukone, the first Indian to win the All England Championship title said the new scoring system for the Premier Badminton League will be an exciting experiment as it will add uncertainty to the matches and draw in more spectators. “It will be an exciting experiment. In the 11-point scoring system, there will be a lot of uncertainty, that will bring more spectators to the stadium,” Padukone said.

The statement comes in the wake of some top international shuttlers Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu welcoming the shorter version of the scoring system. Saina recently had said it would be interesting to see how it pans out, but the games will get over quickly as points are less. PV Sindhu, the Rio Olympics silver-medalist, had said the system will force players to be on alert and focus from the first point itself.

Golf’s Tiger Woods Hits The Links With Donald Trump

Tiger Woods, who played golf three years ago with Barack Obama, played 18 holes with Donald Trump at the real estate mogul’s Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Woods returned to competition this month after a 15-month injury layoff. He joined the president-elect in a foursome, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team said, with Trump departing via motorcade after the round for his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Woods planned to go from there to the West Palm Beach Hilton, and had meetings with “high-level staffers” planned later in the day, press secretary Stephanie Grisham said. Trump’s transition team didn’t offer any immediate details on the round, or what the president-elect and former world number one Woods talked about. In February 2013, 14-time major champion Woods played with Obama at a private golf resort in Florida.

Vijender’s One Punch Was Enough to Win 8th Consecutive Win

Francis Cheka was all fluff. The pre-fight talk fell flat as Vijender Singh rolled in a right, rattling the Tanzanian, as the referee decided to close down the bout giving the Indian an eighth straight win and the 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medalist retained his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title. What was surprising was the Tanzanian’s non-aggressive approach.

The Thyagraj Stadium is no Madison Square Garden, but it reverberated with a sound that could have unsettled any challenger. Crowds had started building up a couple of hours before the fight and by the time Vijender’s bout came, it rocked and heaved like a powerful beast. Sushil Kumar, Vijender’s teammate at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was there and so was Yogeshwar Dutt, setting the tone with ‘nervousness is not something you associate with Vijender.’